Cherry tomatoes with falafel spices

This tomato canapé was inspired by the delicious falafels served from Chef Ozi’s Levantine Street food truck. They were so delicious I decided to try out a canapé version. The list of ingredients might look long, but it’s mainly just mixing things together. I hope you like it - and I hope Chef Ozi does too!

Ingredients

24 even sized cherry tomatoes

0.25 tsp ground cumin

0.25 tsp ground coriander

0.25 tsp dried chilli flakes

0.25 tsp sumac

0.25 tsp salt

For the hummus:

50g tinned chickpeas, rinsed

1 tsp tahini

1 tsp olive oil

0.25 tsp lemon juice

Pinch chopped garlic

0.25 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp water

Pinch of salt

For the cucumber:

Small piece of cucumber

40g Greek yoghurt

3 or 4 drops of Tabasco (or to taste)

2 tsp finely chopped mint

2 tsp finely chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Method

To prepare the tomatoes:

Cut the tops off the tomatoes (the growing end forms a straighter base if they are not going to be served on sticks) and scoop out the seeds, taking care to keep the tomato in tact. Leave upside down on kitchen towel to drain while preparing the others and the spice mix.

Combine the ground coriander, ground cumin, sumac, dried chilli flakes and salt.

Sprinkle the bottom of the inside of each tomato generously with the spices.

To prepare the hummus:

Put everything in a food processor and whizz together until it becomes a paste. Add more cumin, garlic, lemon juice or salt to taste. The hummus needs to be quite firm as the tomatoes and cucumber are wetter.

Spoon about 0.25 tsp of hummus into each tomato. They should be about 3/4 full with enough room left to put the cucumber on top before serving.

To prepare the cucumber:

Mix the yoghurt, Tabasco, parsley, mint and salt together. Cover and store in fridge until required.

Remove the seeds from the cucumber. Leave the skin for colour if it isn’t too coarse. Chop the cucumber finely (about 40g prepared cucumber is required) and store in the fridge on kitchen towel until ready to serve.

To serve:

Mix the cucumber into the yoghurt and put a small spoonful on top of each tomato. decorate with a small mint leaf.